Publishers know they can save a lot of money joining others in joint or cooperative mailings Co-op mailing is not a new concept or idea, but finding other publishers who want to mail to the same lists isn’t easy

A free service is helping publishers sell more books through cooperative mailings with other publishers Publishers submit listing information, as to what kind of mailing they want to do, the nature of the books or items they want to promote, and contact information DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, software and other items work easily here too The information is published each month free in a newsletter for entrepreneurs and publishers - ‘Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline ‘ We aren’t involved in helping with any arrangements you decide on We only help you find others who are interested in joining with you by publishing the information in the newsletter, free

You arrange with others and send out your fliers in co-op mailings to, for example, public libraries, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, children’s bookstores, hospitals, hospital gift shops, elementary schools, high schools, college libraries, college newspapers, colleges & universities, various departments in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities, to medical libraries, military libraries, museums, and Christian and religion-related lists, etc

You arrange with others and send out your press releases to daily newspapers, editors, travel columnists, health columnists, medical columnists, weekly newspapers, major magazine and trade publications in the genre field of the book - business, health, medical, disability, travel publications, etc I’ve mailed several of my own press releases, successfully, in one business-size envelope third class ( bulk mail) for many years, promoting several of our books, videos, DVDs, titles and services and reaping a ton of orders for us in return We’ve had thousands of write-ups -articles, items and features in many publications over the years I think the envelopes are opened in the mail room and the editors never see the envelopes that press releases come in Also they’ll never know if it arrived by priority mail, first class or third class (bulk) mail

For many years I ran a sideline fee-shared cooperative mailing service to help our publishing company branch and other publishers, promote titles and sell more books through press releases to the print media (newspapers and magazines, for example) and news releases to the broadcast media (radio station talk shows, TV shows, Oprah, Today show, Good Morning America, etc ) Also we sent fliers to libraries, schools, hospitals, hospital gift shops, newspapers, independent bookstores, new age bookstores, etc

The costs to do a co-op mailing are established by you and your co-op partners, for the amount necessary to do the mailing, then divided up and paid for well in advance of the mailing This would include the cost of buying and printing #10 business-size envelopes, the cost of renting the labels, postage cost determined by the weight of the piece and other factors, and cost for the mailing house to do the mail out All fliers are shipped directly to the mailing house with instructions on the box as to which mailing it’s for The lead person gives them instructions so they know the boxes are coming

We’ve always had good results from cooperative mailings and many others have reported they have too Publishers need to know what markets their genres fit into No two books or products are exactly alike So one can’t compare the outcome for titles of books in mailings others have done, to their own titles and potential outcome

Doing co-op mailings is a good way for book publishers, self publishers, (entrepreneurs and other types of business owners too) to distribute their press releases and fliers, and to save a lot of time and money And this free cooperative mailing service is a good way for you to find other publishers with the same marketing goals

Helen Hecker helps book & self publishers, heads Twin Peaks Press, a PR, offline-online marketing, mailing list, consulting, publishing co. Do AP press releases. Publish books, ebooks. Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline for biz owners. Free co-op mailing service. Since 1982.
http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com

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If you have made up your mind that you would like to start writing, then first identify the subjects that you would like to write about Then do as much research on that topic as you possibly can so that no errors or half-truths get published in your article Once you have made a list of some of the topics which you feel you could write informative articles on, then it is time to approach a magazine

This magazine can be contacted by sending the editorial a ‘query letter’ This letter should be a brief description of yourself along with your educational qualifications and your experience if any, and the content of the article, which you propose to write for them This will give the publishers some idea of who you are and as to the topics in which you are interested in writing

You can also attach a short article on any topic, which you have written This will give the publishers an example of your knowledge and style of writing Depending on your query letter and their need, the magazine will send you a letter stating the topic on which they want the article to be written along with the number of words required Then, you can start writing your article

Your article should be related to the topic given to you It should be precise and clear Your intended readers should understand what you are trying to convey If it is not a technical article then try to inject some subtle humor into your article Humor always helps Maintain the length as specified by the magazine

Do not ramble on about the subject or mention facts that are not verified, especially on technical subjects Always deliver your articles before or on time At the start, you might not get paid for your articles It is okay as long as they get published and your name at least starts getting familiar in the magazine

If your articles are really good, then the publishers themselves will offer you an incentive to keep on supplying them with more articles Also be prepared for rejection or changes to be made to your articles by your publishers Until you establish yourself, it is very difficult to call the shots in the publishing world

Take feedback from the publishers as well as your friends and relatives after they have read your article This will help you to implement changes quickly into your style of writing Now, with the advent of the Internet, you can follow the same procedure to write articles on the Internet, the only difference being that you might have to submit your query letter and articles online So being a little Internet savvy will definitely help

So, go ahead, let your budding thoughts flower into articles Until you try, you will never know if you are cut out for writing So, go for it

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about magazines and comics. When looking for magazines and comics, we recommend you shop only at the best magazine and comic stores for magazines, used magazines, and comics.

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Belly Dancing: Your Way to Your Soulmate

Many self publishers, book publishers, entrepreneurs, and home-based and small business owners are in the dark about mailing list rentals — how to order targeted, direct mailing lists - say for a direct marketing campaign, what to look for, and what to beware of And they often make a few expensive mistakes The following tips and trade secrets will help you avoid some of these mistakes and help you make better decisions when you seek out quality mailing list services

First of all, generally, you rent, not buy mailing lists They remain in the ownership of the mailing list company and are usually not for sale

Many business owners rent lists but don’t use them right away, which is a mistake Most lists change considerably in 30 days or less Some lists, like mailing lists of public libraries, prisons, hospitals, hospital gift shops, elementary schools, high schools, colleges, universities, daily newspapers, TV stations and radio stations will have very few changes They are fairly stationary so not as likely to move Bookstore lists, new age bookstores lists, organization lists, specialty lists, MLM lists and business mailing lists may have a high rate of return To avoid a lot of returns, rent the selected lists just prior to making your mailing

Be careful about renting any mailing list that goes to individuals: consumer mailing lists, seniors mailing lists, residential mailing lists, homeowners mailing lists and opportunity seekers mailing lists, for example With 20% of the population moving every year you may get significant returns

But do expect some returns As often as we mail using lists, we always get returns (called ‘nixies’ in the trade) from the post office People move, forwarding orders expire, people expire, post office boxes close, and businesses close their doors

Mailing list management and upkeep is expensive It takes a lot of time and labor for companies to compile, add to, clean and mail to their lists and other necessary maintenance They also use expensive mailing list software programs which can have costly bugs of their own

To help you plan ahead, before you order your mailing lists, ask when you can expect the order to arrive This can vary considerably from company to company Some companies can take up to two weeks or more

Mailing lists can usually be ordered in at least three formats - peel and stick (pressure-sensitive) labels or Cheshire (18 pound, spreadsheet-size computer paper–less common these days) or on a floppy disk (used less often these days) or CD You order peel and stick labels if they’re going to be affixed to your mailing piece by hand Or if you know how to import the lists you can order them on CD If your mailing house is going to do your mailing they’ll probably prefer the floppy disk or CD - check with them on this before you order

Mailing houses used to require the Cheshire format instead of peel and stick labels before the advent of computer technology and CD ROM They have machines that cut the printed Cheshire sheets into labels and glue them to the envelopes When ordering lists on CD, specify the format you want to use for conversion, usually ASCII comma-delimited You must know how to import it when you get the disk though The mailing lists will always be for one-time use only even if they’re on a CD or disk And some mailing list companies offer instant downloads of lists

Also if a mailing house is going to do your mailing, they may want the labels to be merged if there is more than one list, or bar-coded, which will save considerably on postage If you can’t answer their technical questions, have your mailing house call your mailing list rental company to work out the final details

Consider the cost to mail out your mailing piece You might want to test a small number on the list first if you have an expensive or heavy package

When you do mailings First Class, you’ll get returns from the post office at no additional charge If you mail Third Class (bulk mail), you won’t get returns They will be tossed out at the post office, UNLESS you’ve printed ‘Return Service Requested’ on the envelope Then each return (nixie) will cost additional postage (based on first class), or ‘Change Service Requested’ (cost based on piece regardless of weight ) Make sure to check current costs with the post office because they change their rates AND rules periodically

Always send any nixies back to your mailing list company, even if there aren’t enough for a credit, which is almost always offered This is a good practice especially if you plan to mail again to the same list soon They usually have a time limit as to when they can accept the nixies for credit because the lists you rented will become outdated fairly soon

When you contract to rent a list, some mailing list companies may require a sample mailing piece This is so the company can determine if you’re mailing a competitive or objectionable piece

The business of mailing list rentals is based on the honor system to a degree, but this honor system also has a built-in alarm: owners protect their data by planting decoy names (seeds) in the mailing lists they rent If a renter contracts to use a list on a one-time basis and uses it a second time, the decoy will receive the unauthorized mailing and report the misuse to the list owner The decoys are often friends or relatives of the staff of the companies Also, many mailing list companies employ companies that specialize in tracking or monitoring mailings to detect any misuse Since decoys are different for each list order, the renter who abuses a contract is easy to trace

Mailing lists are protected by copyright and trade secret law Any violation of a list agreement is strictly upheld by the courts Once a list rental contract has been broken, the list owner has legal recourse to sue for compensatory and punitive damages Punitive damages could amount to as much as three times the value of the list and more

All list owners have good reason to be so protective of their data List rental is a multibillion-dollar business There are literally thousands of lists available for rental in the United States alone

If all else fails, you can enlist the help of a mail list broker Brokers usually collect their fees from the mailing list company Check this out first

In any case caveat emptor! In any case you can reap rewards handsomely from sending out fliers, press releases, press kits, review copies of books and other materials via the direct mailing lists you choose

These tips and trade secrets should help self publishers, book publishers, entrepreneurs, home based or work-at-home and small business owners make better decisions when working with mailing lists, mailing list rentals and mailing list companies

Helen Hecker helps book & self publishers, heads Twin Peaks Press, a PR, offline-online marketing, mailing list, consulting, publishing co. Do AP press releases. Publish books, ebooks. ‘Helen Hecker’s Biz Hotline’ for biz owners. Free co-op mailing service. Since 1982.
http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com

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The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)

Are you ready for a change your life kind of experience? Yes Then write and publish the book you’ve been dreaming about Few things hold the potential for a life changing experience like writing and publishing a book

You can receive life long income from writing and publishing your own book You can affect the lives of hundreds even thousands for the good You gain the added respect of your colleagues after writing your book You can leverage the increase of fees exponentially in your business

Even so, many new authors don’t receive the rewards they deserve They forfeit their advantages by making simple mistakes that block their book’s success Correct the following mistakes to enjoy the rich rewards of a top selling book author:

1 Failure to set realistic expectations

To be honest, your book by itself probably won’t make you rich Don’t be disappointed with your royalty check or dismayed by direct sales of your self-published book

Instead, plan to use your book as an important leveraging tool to advance existing sales, increase your business or catapult your career Plan to receive open door opportunities that you may not have received any other way

2 Failure to organize book project

Researchers say we waste over 6 full days a year looking for mislaid information Make it easy for yourself Create a filing system for your book project You’ll write faster and with less stress Did you discover you can’t pull it all together by yourself? Delegate; hire an assistant to help Do the part you are most skilled in and assign the rest

3 Failure to turn off self-editor

Turn off the self-editor while writing The editor in you will want to stop and correct every error Don’t allow him or her a voice until you finish the writing process It’s more important to finish your rough draft than to write a perfect manuscript Don’t let a too early editing process block your rewards

4 Failure to avoid marathon writing

Prolific authors at some point realize they don’t have to sell their soul to write a saleable book They write a little each day to get it done faster They avoid marathon writing (going away) You unintentionally set yourself up for failure if you opt for the marathon writing What happens to your book goals, if you come back and your book’s still not written?

5 Failure to focus on one main topic

Top selling authors focus on one main topic They make sure each chapter supports that subject If you scatter your focus, you’ll come across as unorganized, long winded, and boring Your readers may find your book hard to understand

Instead of an encyclopedia type book, chunk your information into modules, segments, chapters or parts In each segment, offer plenty of detail to make it useful to your reader

6 Failure to write ‘Grab You by the Collar’ titles

It’s a known fact; titles sell books In fact, titles sell a lot more than books Titles sell newspapers Titles sell magazines Titles enhance the selling power of ads, brochures, web sites, booklets, and just about any kind of marketing element you can think of Don’t forget chapter titles, sub heading titles, bulleted points (mini-titles) benefit from sizzling titles

7 Failure to think community

Successful authors look for ways to engage and involve a nurturing relationship with readers and peers You should seek to include the support of your family, friends, readers, other authors, book coaches and others who feed your enthusiasm Most are eager to provide ideas, assistance and feedback

If you continue in the mistakes above your book may never reach the level of success it deserves Instead, implement good book writing tips and avoid the self publishing mistakes new authors make Go ahead; take the wheel of writing well and drive your book to a wild success

And now I would like to offer you free access to my FREE Self Publishing eKit when you subscribe to Publish2Profit, a free monthly newsletter on book writing, publishing and marketing tips. You can get your instant access at http://www.selfpublishinghouse.net
From Earma Brown, 14 year author, book writing and publishing coach

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Ebooks are very much in demand as they are very informative Thousands of people surf the net daily to get some type of information An informative ebook is always in demand and fetches a good amount of money for the writer With the help of the Internet, both authors and readers have benefited If you have always felt the need to write down all the thoughts that came to your mind, you are probably a writer in the making

Before you get down to writing, it is essential that you realize your interest Writing on a topic that holds your interest will help you do a better job as a writer You can make a list of topics that you have more knowledge on and then move on to do a bit of research on the reader’s interest

A writer has to think from the reader’s point of view as well Otherwise they may not have any readers to even look at their articles You may write on the same topic as other writers, however, make sure that you write it differently to draw more readers

Once you have decided on the topic that you are going to write on conduct a thorough research on that topic Do not miss out on any important information and try to acquire the latest knowledge with regards to the subject you decide to write on If you want your ebook to be a success, then you have to be very particular about its content After all it is your content that’s going to be read by all

After thorough research, plan out the points you wish to cover in your ebook Decide the layout of your ebook, and plan what topics you wish to cover first Come up with a rough draft of the ebook so that you get a clear idea of what has to be written Once your draft is ready, you can get down to write the matter in a creative format Do not copy another author’s style of writing Develop your own style and be original as much as possible

Use words that can be easily understood and keep your sentences short to hold the interest of the reader Let the information flow gradually Articles written in a conversational format always hold a readers interest

You can highlight the important information and can also create links to give access to separate information on that particular matter Keep doing your research work regularly until you upload the ebook so that you don’t miss out on any other current and relevant information Be creative and give a catchy title to your ebook

Passion and skill for writing can make you a successful Ebook writer

Victor Epand is an expert consultant about books. When shopping for books, we recommend you shop only at the best bookstores for used books, autographed books, and vedic books.

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Self Esteem Bingo for Teens. An engaging and educational game about self esteem and ways to improve it. Created by Estelle A. Leutenberg and Kathy L. Korb-Khalsa

Does that title sound confusing? Well, I can understand that, but once you finish reading you’ll see that writing articles the wrong way round will speed up your writing and get you much better articles

Writing an article seems like a daunting task, and if you do it for the first time you might feel like standing in front of an unsurmountable sleek wall that does not provide footholds to climb up and over it to reach your goal But it’s quite easy, if you approach article writing in a systematic, step by step way Let’s look at these steps and find out how you can write an article in a few minutes, once you have mastered this 6 step system:

The Six Step System For Article Writing

This is the most efficient and, in my experience, fastest way to write about any subject:

- define what your goal is for the article

- do research if necessary

- prepare an outline

- start writing any part of the article

- organize the article into headline, lead, body, conclusion

- proof read three times at least

Who Will Read The Article - What Is The Article About?

Before you start writing, you need to define what you want to communicate with your article, and what purpose the article will serve Ask yourself these questions: Who is the reader you want to reach, what knowledge of the subject does this reader have allready? What exactly do you want the reader to know once he’s read your article?

Best use a list with keywords to jot down your ideas Dont’ worry about organizing these keywords yet Once you have a bunch of keywords, start putting them in a logical sequence, the way you want to organize your story When you have decided how your article will appraoch the subject, prepare an outline how you want to pass on this knowledge and / or information Then start giving your article a structure

Structure means divide the article into the four sections: headline, lead or teaser, body and conclusion Here is the secret to effective writing that will make writing your own articles fast and painless: You don’t have to write these in the order I just mentioned them! Because it can be really difficult to come up with a good headline or teaser, if you have not written the article itself Also don’t necessarily write the article body in the sequence that it will have once it’s ready for publishing

It is a lot easier to first start off with a few bullet points for the body of the article Developing these bullet points into sentences and paragraphs often, all of a sudden, leads to a great headline, or you will think of the best reason why this article provides benefit to the reader That way you let your thoughts flow freely and don’t get writers block

The Headline

It’s allways good to start writing a first headline for your article The headline may change as you write But start off with the best headline that comes to mind now Headlines should be catchy and induce curiosity in the readers mind Best keep your headline short, seven words or less is good Also make it strong and affirmative: “Write your Article in 10 minutes” is better than “How to Write an Article in a short time”

The Lead or Teaser

To get the readers attention, it’s important to start off with a lead paragraph that very briefly describes what you are going to tell the reader and why You must grab the readers attention and give him a very good reason why reading your article is worth his time

A great way to write an article is to start the lead paragraph with a statement, then go through the explanations and information that you want to pass on and, in your conclusion, draw a line back to the initial statement you made This neatly wraps up everything and in the mind of the reader ‘encapsulates’ the article

A good lead is short and to the point It doesn’t try to compact every fact you write about in the article body into two or three sentences Just provide enough information to get the story moving, but leave the reader wanting to know more

The Body

In the body you go into detail and cover the points that you have written down in your outline Here you provide the hard facts, the information and the instructions You answer the reader’s questions and you show different angles of the subject

Organizing this information in a logical way is the most important thing Think of the flow of the article and make sure you have a thread that leads smoothly from one point to the next Make sure you don’t use jargon or spcific words that are only known in an industry or trade and not used by the public If you need to use these words, explain the meaning Put the reader at ease

Explain your points in short paragraphs Short paragraphs are easier for the reader to follow No one likes to look at a long block of solid text Three, four or five sentences are enough for one paragraph

If you are writing to create interest for your business, spill all the beans! Tell your trade secrets! This may sound a bit wild, but the more you tell, the more demand will be created for your goods and services

Provide personal examples of the points you make, or create a ficticious case and show how in practice such a solution would work well Illustrating your explanations with an example makes understanding what you say a lot easier for the reader and your text gains credibility

The Conclusion

Remember your favourite teacher at school, the one that at the end of class would quickly summarize what was covered in the last 45 minutes? That’s what you are going to do now to finish off your article and make it a finished and polished piece Reread your lead, where you started the circular loop that you now want to bring together by writing the conclusion

For this article the conclusion could read like this: “Writing the wrong way round and mixing body, title, tease and conclusion whilst writing does lead to faster writing and better results, because you let your thoughts flow free and avoid writers block When you’ll be writing your next article, footholds will magically appear on that wall that earlier used to block your writing Go and try it!”

It’s allmost allways possible to draw the circle closed, and if it does not seem to be doable with the teaser that you have, read the entire article once more and maybe change the teaser to be able to draw that circle

Proofreading

The best way to destroy credibility is poor grammar and spelling Your content may be brilliant, but if there are mistakes, people will tend to dismiss what you have to say So use the tools that are available to spell check and have a friend, or better, a few friends proofread your article before you submit it or publish it yourself Best leave the article for a day or two and then reread it yourself Often you’ll come up with even better formulations and the article will gain in quality Don’t overdo this, thouhg Once is enough for your own rereading, then go out and publish You’ve done a great job and spent time and effort to write, now others want to read what you have to say!

and even though I’ve written the conclusion allready as an example, here’s it true spot, so here we go again, this time reworded just slightly:

You see, writing the wrong way round and mixing body, title, tease and conclusion whilst writing does lead to faster writing and better results This writing style allows your thoughts to flow free, lets your creativity develop thoughts and associations Because you avoid writers block that way, you’ll be writing your next article fast and without pain Footholds will magically appear on that wall that earlier used to block your writing Go and try it!

Rolf C. Zimmerli is a web developer, web consultant and editor. He has been working on the Internet since 1996. He manages a free article submission site: ZNMC Article Directory accepts well written articles for free publishing and welcomes your contributions.

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TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS Large Wall Poster

It’s one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that’s saleable, viable, and marketable Whether you’ve just published a book or have a book that isn’t selling, now is the time to get to it; start marketing today! Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed

Make sure your press release spells out the ‘who, what, where, when, and why ‘ Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases

Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month

Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style that you can send out for the lifetime of your book

Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books

Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book Why not give away your book in a raffle at a local function to get more recognition for your book

Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website

Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer

Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s market

Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way

Don’t delay another day if you’ve fallen by the wayside; make sure to focus on promoting, selling and marketing your book each and every day If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have With well chosen book marketing and book promotion, online and offline, you’ll reap the profits you deserve for your efforts by way of the Internet and in your mailbox

For more information on book marketing tips and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com founded in 1982, specializing in help for authors, self publishers, ebook and book publishers with tips, advice and resources, including information on media, library and other mailing lists, and press releases - online, wire service and offline distribution

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